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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28405467">Of Stars and Sea</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerefortheDrama/pseuds/HerefortheDrama'>HerefortheDrama</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek: Discovery</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury Recovery, Mentioned Michael Burnham, Philippa Georgiou Lives, Walks at the Beach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:42:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,304</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28405467</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerefortheDrama/pseuds/HerefortheDrama</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Philippa and Nikos take a walk to familiar sights.</p><p>Philippa lives and gets to come back home, but she's been to hell and she's not quite sure she came out fully intact. Luckily, Nikos is there to take care of her.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nikos Georgiou/Philippa Georgiou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Of Stars and Sea</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Straight out of a personal headcanon, this little one shot was born. This is my first published one-shot/fanfiction and I wanted to try writing something other than headcanons and metas. </p><p>Also, English isn't my first language, so you most probably will spot some grammatical and spelling inconsistencies.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Ready to go?"</p><p>Philippa looks up to the source of the voice and finds Nikos leaning on the open door, already dressed in appropriate beach wear.</p><p>"Yeah, just give me a minute." Philippa smiles at him as she tucks her hair on the crutch of her ear. She takes a deep breath and clutches the end post of her bed to stand. The wood creaks as she places her weight on it to stand and her bad leg wavers for a second, but she's able to stand and walk away from the bed with no further issues.</p><p>"Should we bring your cane?" Nikos asks softly. He doesn't reach towards her to offer assistance, but Philippa knows Nikos well enough to know he's watching her every move — ready to jump at her if she falls again. He's also been here with her for most of her recovery, so he knows she tries to avoid using the cane as much as she can.</p><p>"Might as well." Philippa accepts, even though she feels her legs are strong enough to carry her through the walk. Nikos smiles at her and grabs the cane, which collapses into a smaller stick, and hangs it on his arm.</p><p>The door swishes open automatically as they move outside. Seawater and the coastal breeze immediately assault her senses and she takes a moment to breathe it all in — grateful and lucky that she still gets to come home to this.</p><p>It's almost sunset, yet the beachside is blissfully empty except for a few island folk, the sun bleaches the oceans before them with a kaleidoscope of colors. The sea waves softly crash against the store, and together with the breeze playfully ruffling the leaves on the nearby trees, she can almost get lulled to sleep with this symphony of paradise.</p><p>She feels Nikos' standing behind her, and her lips curl softly into a smile. She turns to see him in a similar state — his eyes shining with warmth — and he gathers her arm onto his own as they descend the porch to the strip of sand before them.</p><p>They walk in companionable silence with a slow pace. Nikos' shoes make a distinct crunching sound as she lays more weight on him on some steps and the sea waves crashing on the shore become more distinct as the sun descends beyond the horizon.</p><p>Nikos offers her cane after they stop for some time and she collapses the cane open after he hands it to her. The synthetic wood hits the sand with a flourish and Philippa gratefully transfers her weight away from Nikos and to the wood.</p><p>"We can stop for a while." He offers. "We're not in a hurry."</p><p>"It's fine, Nikos." She smiles at him as she tests putting weight on her bad leg slowly. "It’s not that far anyways."</p><p>Nikos nods, but he keeps his hands close to her, his eyes trailing her figure as they continue their walk.</p><p>"Like what you see?" she teases.</p><p>Nikos smiles at her. "I'm just proud."</p><p>"At me walking? A three year old could do that."</p><p>"You know what I mean." His gaze falls on the cane.</p><p>She does. There was once a time where she would have chosen to collapse on the floor than to accept that she would have to use a cane. Logically, she knew her legs would never return to their old strength — one that propelled her through her ship and the stars — and that they would continue to deteriorate over time.</p><p>"It was only logical."</p><p>"Now you sound like Michael." Nikos chuckles. "How is she, by the way?"</p><p>"She's doing well." As she says so, the waves fall silent and they softly lap near them. "She seems happy on the <em> Discovery. </em>"</p><p>"I'm glad."</p><p>"I am too." With that they fall silent again, their silence accompanied by the breeze tumbling across the fine sand and the crunch of their shoes.</p><p>The sun has just fully sunk beyond the horizon when they finally reach their destination, the entrance to the cove standing before them and Philippa eyes the rocky formations. She's deep into strategizing how she would position her weaker leg when she feels Nikos' arms on her back and legs. He sweeps her into his arms and her cane falls on the sand with her sandals.</p><p>"Nikos!" Her surprised gasp escapes as he adjusts her frame in his arms. Nikos' eyes only shine with mirth as he ignores her and carries her effortlessly through the rocky pathway and into the cove.</p><p>She wraps her arms around Nikos' neck, remembering that once, years ago, they came here the same way. Her in Nikos' arms, as newlyweds, passionately locking lips and exchanging whispered declarations of love.</p><p>Now, all of those feels like lifetimes ago. Nikos and her have long accepted that, while they love each other immensely, that didn't necessarily translate into a tranquil marriage. She's content at this arrangement though, as Nikos' arms feel rightfully familiar, carrying her like all those years ago, as she rests her head on his shoulder and breathes in the all familiar scent of <em> home </em>.</p><p>The cove reveals a neat and tidy camping set up, complete with a raging campfire, with a small tent pitched far from the sea and a blanket stubbed with stones and filled with pillows. Nikos lays her silently on the fort of pillows and plops right down next to her, comically pretending to have strained his arms.</p><p>She can't help but laugh at him.</p><p>"I'm not kidding though!" He playfully mocks her. "You're heavy!"</p><p>She slams a pillow at him and he chuckles loud enough for it to echo behind them. Nikos' laughter is infectious enough that she starts laughing too, and they lie on the blanket with pillows around them as the cove echoes their laughter.</p><p>The stars finally break and fill the horizon and Philippa finds herself staring at them for too long. When she finally tears her gaze away, Nikos is looking at her — his expression wistful.</p><p>"Do you miss it?" He asks as he turns to look at the same sky.</p><p>Philippa honestly doesn't know how to answer him. Space has always been her safe haven, an infinite outlet of exploration where her ghosts couldn't catch her. She always thought that if she ventured far enough, she could leave it all behind.</p><p>But it turned on her. Space became her poison, a thing that she had to fear as she ran for her life with a crudely repaired heart and numb limbs. It became another fear, another ghost she had to run from if she wanted to survive.</p><p>There's nowhere left for her to run to. She's surrounded by all her ghosts now, with the sea that took her parents and the stars that almost took her life. </p><p>She doesn't know where to feel safe now. </p><p>Nikos' arms snake around her, his warmth enveloping her and protecting her from the cold breeze picking up from the sea next to them. They haven't shared much physical contact throughout her recovery, at most it was carrying her if she collapses, and it surprises her how much she's missed having his arms around hers.</p><p>She tucks her head underneath his chin and smiles when she still seems to fit there. Nikos' hands move to the back of her head, as if cradling her, and she relaxes into his arms more.</p><p>Her hands are on his chest, and she could feel his heart beating strongly. If she imagines hard enough, she can imagine her own following the strong rhythm, maybe she can even imagine away all her hurt.</p><p>But for now, she's <em> content </em> . She may fear the stars above or the sea below, but she finds comfort that Nikos is there to protect her and that she feels <em> safe </em>in his arms.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading!</p><p>You can yell at my gaping writing flaws at tumblr (@verbumproxen) or at twitter (same @)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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